


Would You Care to Dance?

by Mrs_Stiltskin (Lady_Belles_Teacup)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Wee bit angsty, but we know how it ends up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 07:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16113701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Belles_Teacup/pseuds/Mrs_Stiltskin
Summary: Tumblr prompt meme fulfillment... #41 Ghost/Living Person AURumplestiltskin visits the library he gave to Belle. Dark Castle/FTL pre-curse.





	Would You Care to Dance?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Umbrella_ella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbrella_ella/gifts).



Rumplestiltskin had locked up the library and her rooms just as tightly as he’d locked up Bae’s room. Rooms only to be entered when he needed a reminder of what it was like to be human. What it was like to feel love and to be loved. Going into those rooms meant tears and regret. Self-loathing so intense he might burst into flame and become ash, but also a reminder of what he strove for. 

He wasn’t quite sure why he stood there now, the light of a full moon shining in the towering windows. The lined shadows of the mullioned windows spreading across the floor and over the velvet cushions of her little reading couch. There was a book still sitting there, a silk ribbon marking the last page she’d read.

He ran his finger along the shelves, stirring up dust to dance in the moonbeams. Little motes sparkling and twirling like dancers at a masquerade. Rumplestiltskin remembered his admonishment that there must never be a speck of dust on any of the books, and he choked back a quiet sob. 

“Belle.”

“Yes, Rumple?” She glanced up at him, her eyes like pale aquamarines glittering with a dreamy, far-away look. The book was open on her lap, her lips curled into a coy smile. Her hand rested lightly on the page, sky-blue ribbon dangling from her dainty fingers. “Is it tea already? I’m so sorry! I must have lost track of time. I’ll see to it right away.”

“No, no,” Rumplestiltskin managed, through a haze of tears and and the lump in his throat. “I’ll bring up the tea things. I just - I just needed to see you.” She smiled sweetly at him and nodded her thanks, turning her eyes back to her book. He swivelled on the balls of his toes and waved a black-taloned hand. A poof of purple smoke and the ozone tang of magic heralded the arrival of the tea cart and all its trappings.    


He fixed the tea and set a cup at her elbow, sipping his from the one with a tiny chip in the rim. Tea never tasted quite right unless he drank it from his chipped cup. 

“Thank you, Rumple.” Belle’s smile was incandescent, and his heart skipped a beat. Rumplestiltskin snapped his fingers and a slow waltz began to play in the background. He snapped again and his dragonhide coat was replaced with a soft, royal blue robe, edged in gold braiding and delicate filigree. He’d look like a prince but for the gold-green scales and the blackened teeth. It didn’t matter now. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

“Would you care to dance?” He asked when he opened them again, bowing at the waist and offering his hand, a perfect red rose between his fingers. She took it with a shy smile that melted his cold and brittle heart, pressing it to her lips and breathing in its delicate scent. Rumplestiltskin thought it didn’t smell half as lovely as he knew she did.

“I’d love to,” Belle answered. His fingers closed around hers, and she rose from the settee, leaving her book aside, the ribbon once again marking her place. As he twirled her around by the fingertips, a shower of golden light transformed her into a confection of yellow silk and chiffon, her auburn curls in ringlets that brushed her bare shoulders, a single pearl on a golden chain graced her pale throat.

Rumplestiltskin thrilled at the feel of her waist beneath his palms, the curve of her hip where the dress blossomed out into a frothy mass of beaded fabric that swirled about their feet. He spun her through the room, the entire world dropping away until there was no one left, and they were dancing amongst the stars.  Their feet tripping a glittering path through the heavens, around the gleaming orb of the moon, back down the starry steps and into their tower room.

He felt her move beneath his fingertips, her laughter as he twirled her through the room was music in his ears. Her breath was cool and sweet against his lips, and he revelled in the solid weight of her as he lifted and dipped her in their traverse of the room.

Rumplestiltskin pulled her flush against his body as the music swelled, reaching its crescendo. He closed his eyes and whispered, “I love you, Belle,” against her perfect lips. Belle melted into his embrace, returning the kiss with a passionate fire. He felt the tingle of magic as it spread out from their lips, welcoming it, willing it to spread and wipe the Dark One from the face of the realms.

When the last strains of their song faded away, Rumplestiltskin stood alone once more in the darkened library, scaled fists clenched by his sides, cracked and blackened nails biting dark crescents in gold-green palms. Silent tears slipped down his cheeks, and he placed his cursed hand on the open page of the book on the settee, glancing at the words:

_ "No, dear Beast," said Beauty, "you must not die. Live to be my husband; from this moment I give you my hand, and swear to be none but yours. Alas! I thought I had only a friendship for you, but the grief I now feel convinces me, that I cannot live without you."  _


End file.
